ABC
With the hire of Emmy-winner Ron Carlivati, DAYS has made its third writer change since 2015. Here, Executive Producer Ken Corday reveals why the time was right for another shift.
Soap Opera Digest: First things first, why was it time to make another change?
Ken Corday: In terms of what was coming down the pike into this coming July, the stories were not the stories I wanted to see on the air or the stories the viewers wanted to see on the air. The viewers were being very vocal about what they were seeing. It really is more of a gut feeling as the guy that’s steering the ship here, whether it’s time to make a change or not, and it was certainly a strong feeling that it was time to make a change. Fortunately for us, Ron [Carlivati] was available and so on we go.
Digest: What will Ron bring to DAYS?
Corday: He will bring to the show things that the show hasn’t had for quite a while. What he said to me is that he wants the show to make you laugh again and he wants the show to make you cry again and he wants the show to make you yearn for certain couples again as opposed to, “Why are they doing this? Why are they doing that?” So he will resolidify shortly after his tenure starts, which, unfortunately, isn’t until July. We will see couples that I’m a big fan of and that I think viewers are big fans of, as well.
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Digest: Like?
Corday: John/Marlena and Patch/Kayla will have a stronger presence on the show. Rafe and Hope are a root-for couple, and they’re going to have situations to deal with. Chad and Abby are a rooting interest for the viewers, and they’re going to have to go through a lot of hurdles, but they’re the end game.
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Digest: What other changes will we see?
Corday: There will be a huge murder-mystery story in Salem starting in June. It will play into September as a kind of whodunit. Ron came in and restructured some of that, and I feel it’s very good. It’s very compelling because it’s not who you think it is, and yet you’ll be very surprised and understanding when you find out the whodunit of it all. He will be giving more to Nicole, Brady, Eric and Chloe. Ron sees the legacy characters as important, not set dressing. The viewers have made it very clear to us that they want to see certain characters with other characters, and he’s listening and I’m listening and we’re going to try to implement that.
Digest: Let’s address the biggest issue of the past three regimes: The show is too dark.
Corday: Yes, that’s the thing we’ll be getting away from the most is the onerous, “I can’t watch this anymore” kind of darkness. I’ll just say at a time when there’s enough bad news on the air, we don’t need to see it reflected on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. We don’t need to see people doing the wrong things with the wrong people. People want to come to this show for a safe haven. They want to be entertained and warmed and, you know, cuddle up with DAYS again.
Digest: Do you feel like that’s what we’re going to get with Ron?
Corday: Definitely. The shift will take about two months for him to kind of resolidify, wiggle out of what was there in the summer, and give us a fall that’s much more in keeping with what I’m talking about.
Digest: Let’s talk about Sheri’s [Anderson, story consultant] contribution. There’s been a lot of excitement over her return.
Corday: Sheri brings a very strong female point of view to the show and certainly in grounding Ron as he’s learning so much about Salem and so much about the past of the show. She knows this very well, and she knows what the viewer wants to see. So, we’re not going to be seeing TRUE DETECTIVE on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. We’re not going to be seeing the kinds of leaps of faith we’ve been taking in the past. We’re going back to what works, and what works is quite simple in that you give people romance every day, a chuckle every now and then, and an oh, my God at the end of every week.
Digest: Were you able to go back into any story and tweak it a bit?
Corday: Yes, to a point, but unfortunately we produce so many shows a week and we’re so far ahead and we’re only working 39 out of 52 weeks. It’s really hard to go back more than, let’s say 10 shows. We couldn’t go back months before his start. It’s just impossible. Those shows were already shot.
Digest: Well, let’s talk about that for a moment, because there are big disadvantages to you being so far ahead. Can you explain why you’re still doing it?
Corday: Because the money that we’re getting to produce the show is not what it was two years ago, four years ago, six years ago. So we have to contract the production of the show, and we’re doing eight shows a week as opposed to five shows a week. So we get way far ahead and we’re not using the studio, we don’t have to pay studio overhead, and et cetera, et cetera for 13 out of 52 weeks. That’s the only way we can make our nut.
Digest: So it’s a necessity at this point.
Corday: It is an absolute necessity. There’s no other way of doing it, unless NBC was going to give me a nice Christmas present and make things the way they were in 2010. The face of the business has changed. We make the same show for less.
Digest: How does it feel to have to wait for the changes to take place?
Corday: I wish they could happen faster. I’m not impulsive, but I’m a little impatient. We have to kind of pull the show out of where it’s been. It’s going to take us about four to six weeks to get it to where I’m talking about. Let’s say, beginning of July to mid-August/September, and that’s a long time to ask the viewers to hang in there.
Digest: But when they do hang in there, what can they expect at the end?
Corday: They can expect a simpler show, a more easily graspable show, and a show that’s grounded in romance and reality in romance as opposed to some of the things we’ve been doing.
Digest: Any news on the renewal?
Corday: I don’t want to count that chicken till it’s hatched. There has not been a pickup yet but I feel confident the show will be picked up.
Digest: How did you feel to see yourself being pulled into mainstream headlines regarding Megyn Kelly’s hire and the implication that something would happen to DAYS as a result?
Corday: It was not comfortable being pulled into mainstream press for me or for the viewers or for the employees. I think that has passed us now that the talk is she’ll be going to THE TODAY SHOW.
Digest: When you now look into the future and you have your new head writer, how do you feel?
Corday: We feel good about the upcoming season. I feel the show is in good hands and the viewers will be not only listened to, but happy to see what Mr. Carlivati develops. I’m looking for someone who’s going to carry the show for a long time as certain writers in the past did. Someone who’s consistent, who makes the show consistently good, so the viewers know, “Okay, this is something I can look forward to seeing every day.”
Digest: And Ron is that person to deliver that?
Corday: I know he is. Devil be damned, I’ll put my money on him today.
